Francisco Cerundolo (Twitter)
No.4 seed Francisco Cerundolo will face Jack Draper of the UK in the quarter-finals of the Lyon Open
Francisco Cerundolo has come to Lyon at the back of an impressive Italian Open campaign. He had a pretty interesting campaign in Rome.
The Argentine registered comeback wins after dropping the first set in all of his three matches. He began his campaign with a hard-fought win against China’s Wu Yibing and followed it up with another win in three sets over Frenchman Gregoire Barrere. Cerundolo showed tremendous determination and grit in Rome and went on to defeat No.8 seed Jannik Sinner before eventually losing to fourth seed Casper Ruud in the quarter-finals.
Cerundolo would aim to carry forward his good form to Lyon but he is yet to play a full match. He received a walkover in the first round of the tournament after Juan Pablo Varillas withdrew due to an injury when the scoreline read 6-2 in the Argentine’s favour. Cerundolo got some much-needed game time during the first set, and he will now look to capitalise on the positive momentum against Jack Draper of the United Kingdom in the second round.
Jack Draper is an emerging star in the men’s circuit and he has shown his class so far at the Lyon Open. He began his campaign with a convincing 6-2, 6-3 win against local favourite Alexandre Muller. Draper then went on to pull off a major upset against the fifth seed Miomir Kecmanovic, beating the Serbian in straight sets 6-4, 7-5. The British star is in good touch, and he will certainly be realising the opportunity of taking on another higher-ranked player in the form of Francisco Cerundolo.
Date – Thursday, 25th May
Court Type – Clay outdoor surface
Telecast – Tennis Channel
Start Time – To be Announced
Location – Lyon
Match details – Quarter-final
Cerundolo and Draper have never played each other before on the ATP tour. This is the first professional head-to-head clash between the two players. On paper, Cerundolo is the slight favourite both in terms of form and rankings. However, one can certainly not rule out the in-form British star and he is expected to put up a tough fight. We are predicting an intense encounter with Francisco Cerundolo eventually edging out Jack Draper in three sets.
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